Stay
by rockmysocks456
Summary: Set back when Neal and Keller used to work together. Keller gets shot and Neal has to help him out. NO SLASH, just friendship.
1. No Hospitals

_* I know there's ALOT of profanity in this fic, but as I was writing this I felt like Neal used to be a lot less classy and refined when he was working with Keller, so... enjoy profane-Neal! No slash, **READ AND REVIEW!**_

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Neal was hunched over, panting and wheezing just as Keller came skidding into the warehouse behind him.

"Holy shit!" Neal panted, "I was sure they'd get one of us, they were spraying bullets everywhere!"

Keller, who had also been hunched over, straightened slowly, holding his side.

"They did." Keller mumbled.

His hand was striped with a deep crimson fluid. Keller's blood.

Keller tried to take a step forward and ended up pitching forward towards the ground.

Neal rushed forward and caught Keller's upper body, sinking to the ground with him.

"Shit, Keller we have to get you to a hospital-"

"No! Do _not_take me to a hospital, Caffrey, I swear, I will KILL you!" Keller shouted, sweating and bleeding profusely.

Neal examined the wound and shuddered, forced to look away.

"Keller, it looks REALLY bad..."

"Bullet wounds always do! Just don't take me to a hospital..."

"I'm calling Doc." Neal said suddenly, gently laying Keller onto the floor, he stood up.

Keller recoiled onto his side, trying to staunch the bleeding, "I thought Doc was in Berlin..."

"He got back last night, Alex took off with his share so he's back looking for her." Neal replied, dialing Doc's number.

Doc was best known for his incredible ability to disguise himself as anyone and fit right in. But during one particular con he was so dedicated to making himself appear to be a surgeon, he actually went to medical school and started an internship at St. Peter's.

It was because of this that he was the go to doctor for all conmen looking to avoid being caught in a hospital.

"Doc, are you even remotely close to Harlem right now?" Neal asked as soon as he answered.

"Yeah, actually, I'm about ten minutes away, why? What happened?"

Neal sighed, "Get over to the warehouse near where we did the Da Vinci job two years ago... Keller got shot."

"I'll be right there."

Neal hung up and turned back to Keller. He'd passed out.

"Goddammnit..." Neal pulled off his jacket and pressed it hard into Keller's side.

"Ow... Dammnit, this hurts..." Keller slurred.


	2. This'll Sting A Bit

_* Hello readers! Sorry for the wait with this chapter. Again, a decent amount of profanity, so sorry about that. **READ AND** REVIEW!_

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Doc showed up eight minutes later.

"Where's he shot?" He asked, taking a final drag on his cigarette and tossing it.

"His side." Neal said.

As Doc ground his heel into his cigarette butt and cross the room to assist Keller, Neal couldn't help but feel that Doc was the definition of sketchy, partially-certified doctor.

But Doc had helped them out before, so he wasn't about to complain.

Doc opened up his bag and withdrew a black leather pouch. He unzipped it and laid out a scalpel, some tweezers, a metal dish, gauze, a bottle of rubbing alcohol or something, and what appeared to be a needle and a flesh-colored thread.

Doc picked up the scalpel in one hand the the tweezers in the other and leaned forward.

"WHOA, WHOA!" Neal shouted, rushing toward them.

Doc, lowered his arms, somewhat irritated, but more confused than anything else, "What, Neal? Why're you freaking out, man?"

Neal was lost for words for a moment before saying, "Aren't you gonna... Like... knock him out or something?"

Doc looked from Keller to Neal blankly.

"He's already passed out."

"Yeah... but... he's gonna wake up!"

"Right, hold on." Doc dug around in his bag and withdrew a fairly thick ruler. He handed it to Neal, "Make him bite on that when he wakes up."

Neal wanted to protest but saw no use. He knelt down behind Keller's head and got ready to force the ruler in his mouth.

"So you're more concerned about him biting his tongue than the fact that he's gonna feel you pulling a bullet out of him?" Neal said irritably.

Doc thought a minute and said, "...Yeah, that'd be correct."

He leaned over Keller, and with no hesitation, he dug his scalpel into the wound and opened it up a little farther. Keller's eyes snapped open and he immediately began cursing and grunting, his thick Boston accent becoming more and more pronounced with every word.

"Motherfucking... son of a bitch...GODDAMMNIT!"

Neal forced the ruler into his mouth and Keller immediately bit down on it. Hard.

Sweat trickled down his forehead and he squeezed his eyes shut as Doc reached into the wound with his tweezers.

"Neal, hand me that bowl?" Doc said calmly, holding up the tweezers.

Neal handed it to him, and Doc deposited a little shattered bit of bullet.

"Only like four more pieces, alright, Keller?"

Neal couldn't exactly make out what Keller was saying because his words were muffled by the ruler but he was sure it was some more swears.

Doc worked quickly, removing the splinters of metal skillfully, but the whole time Keller struggled and cursed as Neal tried his best to hold him down.

Doc disinfected the wound and as the liquid touched Keller's wound his body jolted violently, accompanied by a muffled groan.

"Oh, right, sorry, this kinda stings, my bad, man." Doc said, dabbing the wound lightly.

Neal watched in amazement as Keller sweated and cursed. Matthew Keller had to be the toughest man Neal had ever met. He'd taken the bullet without a word until they got at least a half mile away to the warehouse. And now he was conscious as the bullet was being removed and sure he twisted and swore but any other man would be screaming, crying, or would've fainted long ago.

Doc took the needle and thread and went to work sewing the skin back together after tidying everything up inside. It was very quick, only thirty seconds or so and then he unwound the gauze. He taped four layers of it to Keller's side and then began packing away his tools.

"Luckily, you only lost a few pints of blood, so y'know, you're probably gonna be really lightheaded, but it's not enough to kill you. So you're good to go." Doc said pleasantly, taking the ruler out of Keller's mouth.

"FUCK YOU!" Keller shrieked, collapsing onto his uninjured side.

"Sorry-" Neal began slowly but Doc cut him off.

"No, it's alright, I get that alot."

Doc smiled, standing up and taking his bag.

"Well, always a pleasure, gentlemen, but I've gotta go find Alex." Doc nodded towards Neal, "Neal." Neal returned the nod. Doc nodded towards Keller, "Keller."

"PISS OFF."

Doc smirked and headed for the door.


End file.
